OT - Golf Club Shipping

[Mike Hendren]

Shipsticks wants $400+ roundtrip from Nashville to Ireland.  I carry a Ping Moon bag with 10 clubs and could probably fit it into a 9x9x50 box with UPS or FedX.  Suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike

[Tommy Williamsen]

I don't really understand shipping clubs rather than traveling with them especially for that kind of money.

[Greg Gilson]

Buy a Club Glove (with Stiff Arm) & check your clubs. Even with CG's high prices you are still way ahead).

[Paul Jones]

You can also remove the driver head and stick it in your golf bags pocket with the headcover if you are worried about the driver.  Just don't forget the tool to put it back on.

[Jim Sherma]

Paul - you sound like someone with first hand experience.

You can also remove the driver head and stick it in your golf bags pocket with the headcover if you are worried about the driver.  Just don't forget the tool to put it back on.

[John McCarthy]

Club Glove for $60 off of Craigslist.  It is built well, do not fear used.  Stiff Arm from Dick's for 35.


In economy the cost is usually 40 -75 per flight.


If you have a small golf bag you can put other clothes in there.

[Daryl David]

The reason to ship clubs has nothing to do with cost vs the airline baggage charges. It is to ensure your clubs are not “misplaced” and are there when you get there. You also don’t have to drag them around to and from the airport. After numerous arguments with the airlines as to where the hell are my clubs, one employee finally clued me in. He said, “the airline business is to haul passengers and not luggage”.  “If you want your precious golf clubs treated importantly, then ship them”.  “When shipped, they don’t ride on passengers flights that are often delayed, cancelled or subject to weight restrictions”.  “They go on dedicated freight planes where any cargo is treated as same as transplant organs or expensive flowers”.  “Most important, they go no where near Heathrow”.  I now happily ship to avoid guys like that being in charge of my sticks.


Also, to the original question: packing yourself and shipping via fedex or other carriers is more expensive than shipsticks. Ships sticks has special carrier pricing that allows them to take a margin and get you a better deal.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Shipsticks only seems to make sense in the US for domestic shipping.  They wanted a lot of money to ship my clubs from Toronto to Cabot Links and they want them 5 business days before my trip - at least that was the case when I enquired a couple of years ago.

[Josh Tarble]

As Daryl stated, the only reason to use Ship Sticks is convenience.  Send them so they arrive at your starting spot 2-3 days ahead of your arrival.  You're (mostly) guaranteed to have your clubs with you.  I would consider it if you're making more than one connection. 


Just do it to your destination only and then regular travel home. 

[jeffwarne]

In over a hundred International trips (200 round trips) I have had my clubs not arrive exactly once-on a nonstop this last summer-they arrived a day later, my son's 2 days later.


I deal with lost clubs shipped via shipsticks, fedex and UPS EVERY day.Thank God for tracking as it's always our fault until proven it's not.
So while I'm not prepared to say airlines are more reliable than shipping, shipping is certainly not foolprooof.
You also have to deal with who's receiving and where they are storing them, especially at a large resort (Doral was an absolute nightmare)


Long lead times (both directions) are also not ideal for an avid golfer, and it certainly is far more expensive to ship as generally golf clubs are considered as included free baggage if one pack clothes in a carry on.


Also 50-51(23kg) pounds is a lot of room to store extra gear to  allow a simple carry on for the rest, whereas if shipping weight becomes an expensive issue.

[John Emerson]

I have a hard travel case and it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made.  I’ve never had a problem when I’ve traveled with clubs on a plane. 

[Pete_Pittock]

I looked into Ship Stick from Portland OR to Cabot and it was $350ish each way. $350-400 one way to Melbourne, Australia.
Used it once after Streamsong because I didn't want the hassle of clubs on a side jaunt to New Orleans. I seem to remember Bill McBride ruing online after using SS and packing some scotch in the golf bag. The scotch disappeared. But I may be wrong.


The biggest hassle of checked golf clubs is going through customs inspections at the airport.

[jeffwarne]

The biggest hassle of checked golf clubs is going through customs inspections at the airport.

the last time anyone looked in my bag or even stopped me at customs anywhere was in Ireland in 1991
I had 6 drivers....

[Tommy Williamsen]

I travel to Ireland twice a year and used to go to England once a year for the last twenty years. I fly Delta/KLM/Air France and have yet to have my clubs miss any of my flights. I have a Club Glove bag that holds clubs and extra clothing. Dragging it around isn't much of a hassle. If you walk and carry on the course don't complain about rolling it in an airport.

[Pete_Pittock]

The biggest hassle of checked golf clubs is going through customs inspections at the airport.

the last time anyone looked in my bag or even stopped me at customs anywhere was in Ireland in 1991
I had 6 drivers....

Jeff and Tommy,
I was mostly talking about the long walk, which is difficult for me (I have a medical letter to ride),but the first time I went to Australia it took me about 20 minutes to get my clubs and shoes clean enough to meet the inspector's standards. Plus I threw away a towel.

[RJ_Daley]

FWIW, a GCA contributor, Rury McDonald is a management guy at Luggage Forward.  He personally got me squared away when after a few weeks playing one year in Ireland/Scotland, the next in Ireland BudaCup, whereby I had LUGGAGE FORWARD pick up my clubs at last course played (the Island and Edinburgh hotel and they were at my home the next day, whilst both times I continued on to Italy.  And, I was Bill McBride's roomie when Ship Sticks confiscated his fine scotch and I can't remember if he ever got his clubs back after our Dismal 5th Major/ SHGC excursion.  So, there is that...😏🙄😣

[Mark Chaplin]

This week I shipped clubs using ShipSticks Deal-Scottsdale, they were picked up at 1130 Monday morning (2 hours after the order) and arrived Wednesday lunchtime, $210. Cheap no, convenient massively so.


My non-scientific research last year had at least one golfer a week in my groups using hire clubs for their St Andrews rounds as their clubs hadn’t arrived in Scotland.

[David_Tepper]

There are services in Scotland that will rent you a set of clubs for multiple days (or weeks). The prices are not unreasonable. You can arrange for the clubs to be delivered upon your arrival and collected upon departure.

https://golfingtoyou.com/ 

http://www.golfgearhire.com/

https://www.clubstohire.com/locations/edinburgh/

[Tom Dunne]

I've used Shipsticks for years and they've never let me down (knock on wood). I travel a lot and it's best when I have two golf trips where the timing and location is awkward. Last summer I had Golfweek rater trips at Kohler, WI and Bend, OR set about a week apart, and I live in NY. Made all the sense in the world to forward my sticks to Oregon instead of schlepping them home just to throw them back on a x-country flight a few days later. And because I'm saving my sticks a flight, it's no more expensive than paying airline baggage fees.

[Dave Doxey]

I've given up on the cost, risk & hassle of bringing my clubs.  I simply rent a set.  Good chance to try other clubs. Inexpensive.  Makes no difference in my game and is a lot less effort.

[Matthew Rose]

I'm moving to Australia and I thought it would be easier if I just left my clubs here and bought a second set. When I lived there previously, I played pretty much as much golf on trips back home than I did locally, although I hope it will be different this time around. But it seems to make more sense to me to throw cash at a second set rather than deal with that every time I come over.

I needed to invest in a new bag and shoes anyway for walking purposes, so why not just get a clone set?

[Daryl David]

I'm moving to Australia and I thought it would be easier if I just left my clubs here and bought a second set. When I lived there previously, I played pretty much as much golf on trips back home than I did locally, although I hope it will be different this time around. But it seems to make more sense to me to throw cash at a second set rather than deal with that every time I come over.

I needed to invest in a new bag and shoes anyway for walking purposes, so why not just get a clone set?

I used to subscribe to the clone system. Identical sets at each home. It didn’t take long for me to realize that buying two clubs every time I upgraded was going to break me. I couldn’t keep up with myself!

[Tom Birkert]

For my business we send quite a few oversize items overseas (using FedEx / TNT). Things go wrong whether using a company like Shipsticks or flying. I don't think one is intrinsically safer than the other.


I find the prices with Shipsticks to be extortionate, I've done quite a few trips, both domestic and overseas, and only twice had issues. Once was my fault as I arrived so late that I almost missed the plane for a flight to Scotland thanks to a dreadful accident that caused traffic chaos, the other time was returning from the US when I had a connection on the West Coast. The clubs were delivered to my house the following day.


Taking a Club Glove with stiff arm also enables me to take extra clothes etc and it's not really that difficult to get around the airport.

[Wayne_Kozun]

I have a hard travel case and it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made.  I’ve never had a problem when I’ve traveled with clubs on a plane.

Don't those require much larger vehicles as they often don't fit in the trunk of a car.  The other downside is they talk up just as much room without your clubs as they do with your clubs.

[Rob Marshall]

Never had a problem with a clubglove and a stiff arm. No baggage fees on Southwest. I’d rather not play than rent clubs but I’m a little quirky when it comes to playing golf.